Smith v. Dresselhouse

116 N.W. 387, 152 Mich. 451, 1908 Mich. LEXIS 873
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedMay 1, 1908
DocketDocket No. 82
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 116 N.W. 387 (Smith v. Dresselhouse) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Dresselhouse, 116 N.W. 387, 152 Mich. 451, 1908 Mich. LEXIS 873 (Mich. 1908).

Opinion

Ostrander, J.

The title to two parcels of land, one on either bank of the river Raisin, theretofore owned and, with the appurtenant water power, conveyed in severalty, upon each of which parcels a mill, operated by water power, had for many years existed, passed to a single owner. The water power is not created by the use of the water from the river in its natural state. There is a pond or reservoir, a dam holding the water and causing it to overflow a considerable territory. The owner, under date June 6, 1878, mortgaged both parcels of land and in the mortgage conveyed, also,

“All the right and privilege which the said parties of the first part may have or possess of raising water and flowing lands for mill purposes. ”

Under date June 9, 1879, he executed to the same mortgagee a mortgage upon the land upon the west side of the river, the mortgage containing the following:

“Also granting and conveying to the said party of the second part, her heirs and assigns, all the right and privileges which said party of the first part may have or possess for raising water or flowing land for mill purposes, together with the privileges of the water power to be used in any manner whatsoever.”

These mortgages were duly recorded. Upon foreclosure of the last-mentioned mortgage, the sale táking place [453]*453December 1,1888, and the mortgagee being the purchaser, the commissioner’s deed describes the property and water rights as in the mortgage. In March, 1889, being still owner of the first mortgage, the purchaser conveyed to complainant the land acquired by the foreclosure, describing the water rights in the following manner:

“The mill privilege and water power there situate, with the right to flow all the lands now overflowed by the water by the mill dam at its present height together with the right and privilege to use and make use of the water power there situated and hereby conveyed in any manner whatsoever.”

In 1894, the original owner and mortgagor conveyed to the mortgagee — counsel have assumed in payment of the first mortgage — the land on the east side of the river:

“Also conveying the mill privilege and water power there situate with the right to flow all of the land now overflowed by water and necessary to overflow by water, to keep and maintain the dam there situated at its present height together with the right and privilege to use and to make use of the water power there situated and hereby conveyed in any manner whatsoever.”

The purchaser (mortgagee) conveyed this land to defendant May 4,1900, describing water rights as last above set out. Previously, she had leased the sawmill and mill yard and “ also all the water power of the river Raisin, all situated on the east side of the river.

Defendant first went into possession of the land on the east side of the river in 1897 under a contract for its purchase, and has ever since been in possession. He repaired the sawmill and flume, put another water wheel in position, and put in feed-grinding machinery. Complainant seems to have made no use of the water; on the contrary, he filled up the flume on his land with earth.

It is the contention of complainant that at the foreclosure sale the purchaser acquired the lands on the weBt side of the stream and all the water power — that the owner and mortgagor was divested of all water rights and that [454]*454the deed from the purchaser to himself conveyed all water rights. He seeks to enjoin defendant from exercising any authority over, and from- using, the water power, flowage, and dam, and a decree determining that he is exclusive owner. Assuming that the owner of both banks of a stream, of a dam, of the right to impound water and set it back upon upper proprietors, and of all water rights appurtenant to the land on either bank, may by grant of either parcel of land attach to it all of the water rights, a point not here for decision and not decided, it is clear that the intent to do so, there being, and having for many years been, a mill on each parcel, must be clearly expressed. Undoubtedly, the grant of a mill operated by water carries with.it, unless express reservation is made,

“ The right to the use of the watercourse coming to the mill and furnishing power for working it, and also to the canal or raceway which carries the water from the mill, to the full extent of the grantor’s right and power so to grant them. Prescott v. White, 21 Pick. (Mass.) 341.” Richardson v. Bigelow, 15 Gray (Mass.), 156.

See, also, Horne v. Hutchins, 71 N. H. 117; Curtis v. Norton, 58 Mich. 411; Mandeville v. Comstock, 9 Mich. 536, 539. But the implication must be clear which would sustain the grantee in a claim that the rights appurtenant to the property had been increased . or diminished. Complainant’s rights do not rest in implication but in a grant. The rights of his grantor rested in a grant. It is a general rule of the law of easements that where the owner of two tenements sells one of them, the purchaser takes the portion sold with all the benefits and burdens which appear at the time of the sale to belong to it as between it and the property which the vendor retains. Seymour v. Lewis, 13 N. J. Ch. 439. Every grant of a thing naturally imports a grant of it as it actually exists. United States v. Appleton, 1 Sumn. (U. S.) 502. Whether we consider the words employed in the mortgage or in the deed or 1 ook for evidence of intention in the physical situation [455]*455of the property and the relations of the parties, we reach the same conclusion. We should expect that a mortgage of all the land and of all the water power carried a grant of all of the water power. We should not expect that a grant of the land on one side of the river only, the grantor retaining the land and mill on the other side, and using the water there appurtenant, conveyed an exclusive right to the entire water power. The terms of the grant to complainant are express and seem to be unambiguous. The land is described by metes and bounds. One boundary is the center of the main channel of the river. The mill tract and the mill are within the boundaries. It is the mill privilege and water power “there situate,” i. e., appurtenant to the land conveyed, which is deeded, with the right to flow lands and to “useand make use of the water power there situated.” Looking outside the deed, it appears that upon each bank of the river mills had been built and in operation for many years. For many years the water privileges were owned in common. Unity of title did not of itself operate to change the water-rights appurtenant to each mill. A mortgage or a deed of either parcel would have still conveyed appurtenant rights. When complainant received his deed of the land on the west side of the river, his grantor still held her mortgage upon all the land. It will not be assumed that whatever she may have supposed her rights in the water to be, she intended tó render the mill property on the east side valueless. For the reasons stated, the relief prayed for was properly denied to complainant.

There are also other sufficient grounds for denying him relief. When complainant obtained his deed, the original owner was in possession of the land on the east side of the river and using the water in operating the mill. He continued to use it for six years. The tenant of his grantee used it. Defendant has used it since 1897. He has expended money in repairing the flume and in new machinery.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
116 N.W. 387, 152 Mich. 451, 1908 Mich. LEXIS 873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-dresselhouse-mich-1908.